Ecology, Vegetarianism and Animals in Ireland

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Monthly Archives: May 2013

One of my all-time favourite university recipes: home-made Mexican quesadillas. I got introduced to these by none other than my amazing (but very Irish) grandmother. They’re so simple, and take about ten-fifteen minutes to make and taste yum.

In this pic, I’ve made them with cheddar, but I usually use mozzarella: it tastes nicer and melts faster. I’ve also put in onions, tomatoes and parsley.
Other ingredients that work well are bay leaves (only two or three though!) or peppers if you have no tomatoes.

People make quesadillas in different ways, but I use the frying pan. I also use corn tortillas: that may be just a personal preference, but I think they’ve a certain flavour about them that makes them taste better than regular flour tortillas. I put the ring on a moderate heat, put the cheese on the tortilla and WATCH IT LIKE A HAWK because those things burn in the space of 2 seconds. Then I empty in the rest of the ingredients. When the cheese is beginning to melt, pop the second tortilla on top. Press on it so that the cheese sticks to it and melds the whole thing together. Then flip the entire thing…slowly! Toast for a while on the other side but again be warned…the amount of times that I have had the whole kitchen in smoke because I’ve burned these is not worth counting.

This video is fascinating…but also scary. 2,000 calories is your daily food intake if you’re a woman…2500 if you’re a man. Found this video on Treehugger.com, inspired by a post from Wisegeek. Carrot anyone?

This dish, though it doesn’t look quite as appetising as some of the others I’ve posted, is an absolute staple for me. Plus it is mega handy if you’ve been indulging lately and want to eat something that’s light but filling: it’s relatively low in calories but it’s packed full of energy. I make a good load of it at the weekend and bring it to college for my lunch and it fills you for the day.

It’s a really simple recipe too (thank god). I stir fry the onions in soy sauce and sometimes include peppers (though I haven’t here). Whip in some curry powder and tofu and parsley or spring onion/leek and put it with rice. For the best taste and the most energy, I do brown rice with vegetable stock. And that’s it: make loads of it and it’ll do about three days’ worth of dinner. With relatively little fuss. Enjoy!